First things first: What even *is* aquafaba?

It's a fancy word for the liquid inside a can of chickpeas. Turns out that the stuff that you might normally just throw away is a ~magic juice~ of sorts: It acts as a binding/thickening agent, is a vegan-friendly egg substitute, and lends itself perfectly to everything from breakfast staples, to condiments, to whipped desserts — along with almost any other recipe where you might want to go egg-less.

So, how do you even eat this stuff?

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Working it into recipes is super simple. First, just drain chickpea liquid into a bowl.

2.Butter

3.Mayonnaise

You’ll need chickpea brine, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, brown rice syrup, and a few spices, and boom! Instant egg-less mayo. Get the recipe from Oh She Glows, or take a gander at the New York Times' recipe featuring sunflower oil here.

10.S'mores Parfait

11.Pesto

Use this recipe from House Vegan as a base, then try mixing up all different kinds of pestos. You can experiment with walnuts, spinach, hemp seeds, kale, sun-dried tomatoes and pretty much anything you'd find in your kitchen already.